Is the Patreon video player rubbish?

Just to add my two cents, I was impressed with your return to form and humor. I enjoy the asides in your videos. I am very happy that you are feeling better and I hope the liver testing reveals another non-issue like the other tests. All the best.

I look straight for the YouTube link to stream it to my tv

This is the first time using the Patreon player. Works fine on my 27in external monitor on my MacBook Pro.

In addition to my earlier comment i don't actually care that much about the video player as I'm sure i can work around that, I'm more concerned that there hasn't been a Sharp GF-777 video yet.

Problem with the patreon player is not able to share the video also cannot gain you revenue from adds or likes.

I found that I couldn't watch the Patreon video in landscape mode on my phone. The audio worked and I could see the controls, but I just had a black screen. My phone is probably a bit crappy, so it doesn't necessarily mean much, but I thought I'd mention it...

Patreon video works fine on both my laptop and my phone via GrayJay. I'll probably still use YouTube as Patreon doesn't give any options to change the quality of the video, and as I'm currently reliant on a 4G connection with limited data per month, I watch most videos at 360p or less if I can get away with it.

I always switch to YouTube through it to be able to give you a like on the video.

Embedded works fine on my laptop but I wacth your videos on my TV with it's higher definition and larger screen and it's connected to some hi-fi bookshelf speakers. I bought these for my first hi-fi based on your budget hi-fi series, before that video series I figured a proper hi-fi was something i'd need to spend mid-range gaming PC money on but I managed it for around £100, for that i am eternally grateful. My current speakers are Sony SS-A607 speakers and my old ones, connected to my TV, are Sony SS-H150, I coudn't bear to sell them so i bought a Douk Audio M100 (not the best amplifier but 99% of the time it's for voice and video gaming rather than just music so it's excellent for that) it does do bluetooth so I could send the audio from my laptop to them but I prefer to sit back and relax watching you on my TV rather than on my laptop.

For the past however many years if I airplay from embedded YouTube from the Patreon app the quality is terrible. I always have to open in the web browser then the app and then the quality of AirPlay massively improves. The Patreon player however is top quality via AirPlay every time without fail.

F YouTube. Embedded works for me!

I don't have a way to watch Patreon videos on my TV, so I prefer YouTube for 4k stuff.

I don't use YouTube via their player, only via NewPipe, so the Patreon player is a big win for me, plus I like that it keeps playing when I leave the page it's on, and minimises. That's on an Android tablet, mind.

I use a PC so the watching experience doesn't change much. However, on YouTube, I've got other perks, such as watching history, suggestions for other videos, etc.

Can I choose Option 3? "I prefer YouTube, because that's where I do most of my video watching. But if you choose to switch to Patreon's viewer, I'll still watch."

Allows full screen playback on iPad OS so gets a vote over the embedded YouTube links for me :)

Works for me on the Laptop or tablet... downside: Can't binge watch Techmoan on my TV. But for Patreon-only videos it should be fine, as long as the (normal) videos still appear on YT later.

Not fussed, it works but YouTube is more flexible as I can change device mid video

I'm fine with it because I can watch it on my large-ish tablet. Still prefer Youtube though because I usually queue up videos on my watch later play list and just play that on any device.

Yay! THANK YOU for bringing the youttube link back! Gonna watch your video again. Casting it from my phone last night was, shall we say, less than ideal 😝

I have a few Chrome extensions that are very useful for playing YouTube videos, so I never use the Patreon version here.

Fine either way, but the YT player is a bit more flexible. I only watch via my PC

I prefer youtube as my main channel for viewing creator content. I rarely use the embeded video player on my own publications. I want Youtube to have the play statistics. Just as I try to avoid posting videos directly on Facebook and Instagram too.

Neither of your options really. I prefer YouTube as I have much more functionality, so I would be disappointed if you moved all Patreon stuff to this player but, I'm totally fine with the odd video being on this player.

The only issue with the embedded YouTube is you can’t watch it in full screen through Patreon, you have to open it in the app separately. Which is annoying but hardly a dealbreaker, mostly as every other creator I follow does the same. Makes sense from your end over uploading the thing twice

The Patreon player doesn't generate closed captions but other than that, it makes no difference to me

I have no issues with it, I just use AirPlay to put it on the TV.

I prefer you on the big telly mat!

I've never used the Patreon video player

I strongly prefer the Youtube videos but I can live with the Patreon website. I am not using the Patreon App at all, I can't mentally afford to have a dedicated app for every one of my life activities.

I've probably only ever watched it this one time. I generally just open your vids through YouTube where possible. But it's nothing worth complaining about.

I‘d really like to view videos on YT on my TV, I think that isn‘t possible with Patreon videos, is it?

Action Retro switched to using Patreon’s video player and while I’ve watched a few videos I’ve given up on watching those and now just watch the videos on YouTube when they’re released there instead. Four main problems for me: 1. I’ve had the patreon app crash on me while watching videos using AirPlay 2. I often queue up multiple videos using YouTube and using AirPlay for one video on Patreon means I can’t do that 3. AirPlay isn’t an option in pretty much any hotel room 4. I can’t easily download the video to watch while on a plane/other location without internet access.

I mean this is totally unique to me probably, but it doesn't do full screen correctly on the front screen of my Moto Razr 2024, so I can't hang the phone off the front of the treadmill and watch Techmoan updates as easily. How could be be so thoughtless!

Works fine for me!

Yep, it's fine, watch it on my pc, haven't got time for YT on telly, apps, mobiles etc. You just click play. Telly takes about 2 minutes to get booted, load the YT app, find the post etc. Life's too short to fannyon.

My impression is that AirPlay of “Patreon video” depends on the codec chosen for upload. YouTube basically always does an AirPlay compatible re-encode, but AFAICT Patreon don’t do so, at least if the original upload codec wasn’t compatible. My general opinion is more subtle than your poll: for longer videos (say over 10 minutes) I do prefer it is YouTube as the player has more options. For short videos I’m probably watching directly on a tablet anyway I don’t mind the Patreon player if you want to use it (I don’t particularly like it though). Ewen

I was able to cast to my TV from the Patreon app on my phone with no issues.

I never had a problem with it 🤷🏻‍♂️

I use a laptop or tv to watch 99% of videos-- I prefer the youtube player for more options with playback and you can alter speed, see snapshots on the status bar, etc. I do not use a phone or an app for Patreon, and prefer when the Patreon video makers provide youtube links.

I'm sort of in the middle. I prefer the screen sizing options of YT and with the Patreon window you get the default or full screen. So my vote is: Meh

The loss of being able to stream to a larger screen is a problem

I can't stand watching things on a tiny phone screen, so I'll never watch a video in the patron player. Even if I wanted to, I'll never *remember* to because I can't put patreon videos on my watch later

As I wrote in the other thread, the Patreon player is fine for me, I watch either on tablet or on the big screen that happens to be my second PC monitor. Remote controlled with a Rii mini keyboard.

I’m ok with it. It can be a bit of a pain in the arse and plays up a bit sometimes. But if it does, then I click the link to go directly to YouTube. It’s the message side of Patreon I have issues with, but sadly that can’t be helped. Alls ok mate. Lee

As a player on the desktop it's perfectly fine. However I prefer Youtube because it works on the TV without screen casting.

I cast it to my TV via AirPlay and it was fine. I think the picture may look a little softer than YouTube, but it’s more than adequate for this type of video.

It worked fine but I prefer to watch it on Youtube because I can watch it on the TV instead of a computer.

When will this vote move to our Techmoan senate?

I dont hate it, but it's either too small or too big (fullscreen) for my taste, whereas YouTube theater mode seems to be a good size for me. But I wouldn't say "Please never use it again", as I understand why you would like to use the Patreon only videos.

Player works OK. I see it works with Apples AirPlay but does not see my chromecasts? What am I doing wrong?

I watch on YouTube also and had to cast to the TV which gave me lag.

The player is fine but I can only watch it on my phone, I prefer YouTube so I can watch on a big screen

Only problem is I watch YouTube on my TV, because I don't watch television. Patreon on Android doesn't like Firestick

The patreon player won't easily broadcast to my Roku, it only sees Google TV. The YouTube player will stream to anything.

I've experienced an odd after-effect of watching the video on my phone - even after closing the Patreon app the video still shows up and doesn't let me swipe out of it. Strange. https://ibb.co/RH6DVkz

It works fine but the inability to cast can prove annoying for those that watch videos on the TV

YT much easier to stream over chromecast so I wouldn’t enjoy trying to watch early videos on it but the patreon viewer is fine for videos like the garden office intro.

Worked perfectly fine for me with the Patreon app on iPad casting it to my Apple TV via AirPlay.

Quality seems lower than YT, also controls are lacking and you can't use it on TV and similar devices.

The quality seems to be a little bit lower compared to Youtube, but I'm completely fine with it.

I watched it in full screen on a 12” iPad Pro. Paused it once while I grabbed some cookies with no issue. I didn’t scroll or mess around with anything else. There were no issues with the video player that I had. Having it on a device instead of the Apple TV was a change of habit, but not significant.

The frame rate seems a little lower than what I get through YouTube, but otherwise it's fine.

Personally prefer YT

I got it to cast to my tv fine, so doesn't really make much difference to me

Since I watch videos on my TV via YT. I prefer when it is posted unlisted in YT because I can start it on my phone, then watch it on my TV via my watch history

It's better than it used to be. On desktop PC, it still presents the video in a portrait orientation. Youtube is hands-down more user-friendly.

Thanks for trying this out! I found that the auto-generated captions were almost perfect*, much better than Youtube's. Is it too much work to post both? The Patreon video player works better in the app, the embedded Youtube video player always has issues (at least on my phone). *except for the 10 seconds when it thought you were speaking Gaelic

The Patreon video player sucks a lot. Embedding YT into Patreon pages sucks a little less (but still a bit because it ignores things like volume settings made on the YT main page). Providing direct links, especially in a way that they work right out of the Patreon email, is the best method.

Okay. Since a couple of weeks i have an Apple TV. Thanks for the tip here to use airplay. That worked like a charm! So no problem with the player any more ... 😂

Didn't Patreon get successfully sued in a class action lawsuit over the video player last year?

Rid it......it's the youtube generation

Can't pause video.

I'm fine with it, by which I mean I can tolerate it because I'm exclusively a desktop user and I can live with the basic but irritating display options. I can also see the advantages of not having everything on YouTube, you might even be able to occassionally use more than two seconds of a potentially copyrighted sound. But I can clearly see why a sizeable portion of Patreons would have an issue with having it forced upon them. And if history has taught us anything (which it appears it hasn't) then maybe completely switching something because a small majority of people think it is acceptable isn't always the best strategy. But it is nice to be on the side that says "Don't effect me pal, unleash hell. Those fires aren't my problem" for once...

Like many others, I would prefer the Youtube version, but wouldn't abandon my Patreon support if this is where you'd prefer to upload Patreon exclusive content. (You will love the heat pump/air con in your new office!)

The Patreon player is crap. Doesn't hide the mouse cursor and double clicking to fullscreen doesn't work. No resolution options. If it was a good player I wouldn't really care either way

YouTube’s my preference, but that’s because I use the Premium features, particularly download and background play, very useful for listening on dog walks. Plus I like to think a small slice of that sub also ends up with Mat.

This poll result is looking worryingly like the Brexit referendum!

Can cast it (Android) but is pretty awful even doing that. If <5 min ok, more than that prefer YouTube.

If it’s exclusive to Patreon then I can’t play it on my TV so it might as well not exist, since Patreon haven’t bothered to support Smart TVs. I don’t understand the logic of only actual Patrons can play it. I’m an actual Patron but I can’t play it on my TV it unless I can open it in YouTube. I’m not interested in watching your videos on a phone or a tablet. It’s the 40” Smart TV or nothing. If it goes Patreon only, with regret I’ll unsubscribe.

My only problem is with my VPN. Patreon doesn't let me use the app, so I always have to use the YouTube link.

I've only tried it on my browser so far, not the app, but it feels very similar to youtube in that. I use firefox and it has the option to "pop out" videos and let you overlay them, at any size, with whatever else you are doing. If I'm able to also pop out the video on the app on android then that would be better than youtube, where it's only possible if you're paying for premium. In terms of quality both looked/sounded the same to me.

Please keep the YouTube link.

I won't watch the content if it's not available on my (dumb)smartTV, so the Patreon player might be perfectly fine, but if something's exclusive to it, to me it might as well not exist. I'm just one among many though so do what you feel is best.

As long as you include the YouTube link as well, I’m happy

I voted no, because I generally don't like it in comparison to the YouTube player. There's no "theater mode" option that makes the player almost as big as the browser window without requiring fullscreen - the latter of which I don't like because you then can't multitask when on a computer. Picture-in-Picture works okay, but (at least on a Mac) you can only make it about 1/4 the size of your monitor. And, like many others, I watch on my TV (via Apple TV) quite often and there's no easy way to do that with the Patreon app like there is with YouTube. All that being said, I also understand it from your point of view - wanting it to be truly Patreon exclusive. So if that's how you decide to do it, I'm not about to drop my support over it. 😉

Supports AirPlay so no real issue for me bc all the big TV's in the house support that so makes no difference

All I want is a clickable YouTube link.

I kind of don't care; I have general preference for not using it, but it's not the end of the world if I have to. My telly supports AirPlay anyway, so I can just open it on my phone and tell it to play on my telly. I realise that's not an option for everyone though.

Awesome news on the garden office thing. As to the video player - be great if it had better control options like skip forward or back.

Please see my ramblings on your update vid.

Maybe it's just what you exported, but the framerate of the video felt lower with this one, a bit more juddery than i'm used to. Not a dealbreaker though :)

It worked ok for me, even went “full screen” (player by itself) on Vision Pro, but YouTube would be fine too. I am going to suggest YouTube for the convenience of everybody else on this list.

Since i watch all content on my TV, its a thumbs down for me

I'm forced to watch this on my phone or laptop. I prefer watching on my OLED TV and I can't figure out how to stream it with the app.

Need a player that casts to TV so Patreon player is a no for me

Can't watch it on my TV so thumbs down from me.

Often times the patreon player buffers when youtube never does. The biggest issue is there is no manual quality control. It often starts low res then goes up in bitrate but doesn't intelligently go back down in quality if its needed mid video. I often need to refresh multiple times when using the patreon player.

Just fine, no frills. Was able to cast to Chromecast without any issue.

It works ok but just means I have to download the video and transfer it to my NAS to watch on my TV instead of just clicking the link. Go with whichever one is easier for you, we will always find a workaround and you can’t please everyone :-)

It's fine I think but I normally open it on YouTube I think? Or are their some videos that are only on the Patreon player?

Seems fine I guess? That was the first time I've used it.

Works fine for me, Mat. The only time it won’t be an option is if I’m on my work machine, but the counter argument is that I should be working, not watching videos. Good luck with the project, it sounds great - looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Works fine for me! Got mixed up with the old way.

at 49 v 51 we are not helping much 😁

The player has a big benefit when watching on the iPad. With YouTube I can’t watch the videos in fullscreen in the Patreon app, but the player finally allows it. With YouTube I can either watch it in small resolution in the Patreon app or go to YouTube and watch it with ads in full resolution which I also don’t want. So the Patreon player actually is an improvement for me.

There needs to be a "meh... " option in the poll. 😂 The Patreon player is fine, but not great. I prefer YouTube, but for the patron-only videos, I totally understand if you want to use the Patreon player.

I’ve said no as most of my YouTube viewing is via TV but if it solves a problem for you then I’ll survive!

The Patreon player means more of the content producers can put out protected stuff. These cheese sandwich videos from you and others mean more off the cuff, low editing content. I stream it from my tablet to my Apple TV.

I don't mind it anymore, but I still prefer YT links if I want to watch Patreon vids at work where I am not logged into Patreon.

Works fine on Windows 10 PC running Chrome.

I've had on and off issues with any media embedding in the Android Patreon app but the website works just fine and it where I watch videos anyway whilst I 'm working.

When it works it works fine. But maybe 10% of the time it just doesn't work.

It’s awful

I'm fine with it, I've used it on my patreon, and it does give you more control.

I don't use it, but then the YT player is familiar to me.

I guess it depends on how people view the videos. It's fine for people using computers, tablets or phones. Probably not so good for TV users. The only drawback I can see from your end is it doesn't add to your YouTube views, so probably best only used for the Patreon stuff that don't make enough views to make ad revenue.

Works perfectly fine watching through any browser on any of my computers. I have never felt the use for stoobid apps or to watch video content on something as small as a phone. :)

I watch all YouTube videos sitting on a couch using a big TV. Fortunately I also have a PC connected to my TV so I was able to watch it as always but YouTube is just easier.

Worked fine on my Mac with 27" 4K screen

Personally, I prefer YouTube as I can watch them on my TV.

I tend to watch your videos on the TV.

I only voted I didn't like it because most of the content I watch is through sky ( YouTube app)

I much prefer watching on YouTube. I can watch it on any device, resume the video from one device to another, file it with other videos I want to watch in playlists, and a lot of other things I can't do on Patreon. But most importantly I like to watch stuff on my TV, so the Patreon player is a deal breaker for me. Honestly I wouldn't worry too much about non-patrons being able to watch exclusive videos. People are always going to find a way around any kind of paywall, and it's very easy to download a Patreon video and reupload it somewhere else. It just adds an extra step, which I don't think would be enough to discourage people scrapping content to share with other people who can't/aren't willing to pay.

I don't have the Patreon app. (I hate having separate apps when a web browser will do.) So my experience was watching in Safari on an iPhone. It was fine. My preference is YouTube links to unlisted videos, but that's a mild preference.... I completely understand wanting to have some content posted on Patreon to keep people from sharing the unlisted links.

Perfectly ok in my book

Patreon player is fine. Althoug I usually watch Youtube with the biggest player before fullscreen. In here it is only the small player or full screen. On phone both are equal, I just more likely watch videos on a computer.

For Safari users, I recommend getting the Baking Soda app, which replaces custom video players with the native iOS/macOS one

I appreciate your want/need to do it, but I prefer the flexibility as I'm not always in the same spot. But you look and sound better on the 70 inch Sony TV LOL. So I am in the middle, but would prefer it on YouTube. Thank you! keep up the excellent work and moaning. Thanks.

Dunno, I never use it. I'll follow any links to youtube when those are available. edit: after trying it, I prefer the UI of the youtube player. There don't appear to be keyboard shortcuts to the player controls on patreon.

Watching this video on my phone while sitting on the couch opposite my telly just felt wrong and I was about to comment about never using it again. Then when the video finished I spotted the Airplay icon! Oh well. (Still prefer YouTube though, is non-Patrons watching the video a problem that needs solving?)

The video player is just fine, all it means is I have to watch on my phone - and I'm okay with that. Prefer the TV, but needs must.

I mostly watch my videos on my TV with my Roku and there is no Patreon app for that so the player isn't the issue for me, but it not being on YT is.

Check out Colin Furze - and get that extra space by going underground!

Fascinating how this is very 50/50 now!

No problem here.

Tragic as it sounds, I like to add Patreon videos to a YouTube playlist, and obviously with this, I can't do that. I never watch YouTube via the TV, I like to make a distinction between my evening's TV based viewing, and my nocturnal YouTube-on-the-iPad-with-wine time!

It's not a deal breaker for me, I've learned to live with it for some other Patreons I support, but Patreon's video player is what I would call "wonky". Example, I prefer to watch at 1.25x or 1.5x speed, and the player offers that but doesn't actually change unless I right-click on the video and choose the speed from there instead. The YouTube player is just superior in several areas.

YouTube please so I can watch on the big telly!

I don’t mind as I can stream it straight to my Apple TV. Slightly less convenient than the YouTube link, but absolutely fine.

Patreon player works just fine.

There can be no middle ground!

The Patreon player doesn't let me cast to my TV so I really don't like it.

Out of hundreds of channels I'm subscribed to Techmoan is the only one I support on Patreon. No I don't want the app. The way you were doing it before was perfect 👌.

Absolutely nothing wrong with it - I'd love it if you kept using it. Keep up the great work.

Proper videos, YouTube. Patreon exclusive nattering like this, Patreon player is fine for me.

Wow, big news there. Congratulations! I'm sure you're gonna love the extra space.

Well, I use Downie to enable me to watch all the videos on my TV. I haven't figured out how to do this from the Patreon players, links etc. It downloads at best 30 seconds of it. So I strongly prefer a YouTube link.. Even though the player itself is fine I guess...

Nothing wrong with the Patreon player. Casting works just fine from Android, iOS or PC to Chromecast, Roku or Apple TV box.

To be fair, I never use the Patreon player - I always watch YT videos on my TV with the app. Rarely watch any videos on any other device - I open the YT link from the Patreon post on my phone/tablet with the YT app then open on the TV.

First of all: I would watch you on a washing machine with internet connection if that was the only way. Other than that, youtube would be my preferred choice, greets from Germany.

Well I don't mind it all

My only issue with Patreon is the inability to stream it to my Smart TV.

I dislike it because I can't point at the video timeline and get a thumbnail before I scrub to the point in the video I wan to watch.

Always use the YouTube link

Much prefer YouTube and it has subtitles that are far more reliable than Patreon one

I‘m watching it on my LG tv by casting it from the iOS Patreon app to my Apple TV. I never really use this app tbh but opening a YouTube link from the email or a Patreon link isn’t such a big difference. I also like the YouTube download option for travelling, but it’s not my most common use-case. If it’s only the Patreon videos I think that’s quite reasonable so whatever works best for you.

I prefer YouTube but I don't want to go as far as saying never use it again. It's not a big deal. I usually watch one second of patron videos so that I can find them in my history on the big telly. Techmoan is always big telly viewing, too good to watch on a phone!

I archive your videos for my private posterity and I can't seem to easily download videos from the patreon player. So in my book - rubbish.

If patreons player had the ability to link to our TV's like youtube it would be useful to us. But as it stands, we don't use it.

Do not go to the Internet for council, it will say both "Yay" and "Nay".

I only watch videos on my desktop so it makes no difference to me, but can see how it could be frustrating for people that use phones, TVs etc.

Your update videos are often ASMR for me. Sorry. But it works. 😀😴

Works fine, and you can also airplay it to the tv.

It's fine in a browser, but youtube "just works" on every device with a screen on the planet, and can be easily casted from any phone to basically any TV nowadays. (Airplay from a browser to an apple TV still isn't a great experience generally, especially if you want to use your phone while it's playing).

I watch youtube on my living room screen via chromecast, I don't believe the patreon player offers that option.

I don't use it unless I have to but it's fine

I say use it only for content that would be demonetized or takedown-prone on YouTube. Otherwise I prefer the YouTube player

As a laptop only user, no issues.

I much prefer the Patreon player, because it doesn't require me to consent to Google's data handling. I became a Patreon just so I could give up YouTube, so it's a shame that it doesn't really resolve that problem for me. I know that's a very niche thing/idiosyncrasy though.

I rarely watch the videos via the Patreon list because it's such a mess. If there was a way to search a little better, or if they were organized into playlists, etc. As for the video included below, I'd not encountered any problems with playback. Love the idea of a new setup but will very much miss the workbench.

99.9% of my Youtube viewing is done on my TV (LG OLED) so it's a real shame I can't watch this video in the same way, unless someone can tell me otherwise?!

It's pretty bad, also I just want to say that I really appreciate in your regular posts that you include the YouTube link so I can skip patreon's interface entirely

Maybe an edge use case, but I travel a lot and have YouTube premium to download stuff for the journeys and a video oddcast is a real treat in that situation. AFAIK downloading isn’t possible with Patreon’s video player so the old setup gets my vote. Will watch regardless though so do what’s best for you! Cheers

The Patreon app works just fine for me and on the web player.

Yes....but only because of it's lack of built in cast function.

The picture jumps around like a damaged CED.